


The Ghosts I see

by Whokisses



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 18:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14142411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whokisses/pseuds/Whokisses
Summary: Cassandra Lewis is a forgotten child who hopes to make Hogwarts the home she hasn't had. She finds herself still standing on the side lines looking in until a brooding potions professor reminds her that she is someone who matters.





	The Ghosts I see

The smile that broke out on Cassandras face as she took her seat in one of the last unoccupied compartments aboard the Hogwarts Express was rare. You wouldn’t know that though because it remained there while she held her breath, just in case something happened, and was still there after she released her intake of air once the train whistle blew a second before pulling away from the station.

Looking out the window showed parents waving their final goodbyes to their beloved children. Her father was not one of those parents. She wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t even realized she was gone.

No, Charles Lewis wasn’t what you would call a loving man. He loved his alcohol too much to spare an ounce of that love for someone else. Even his own daughter.

Pushing those less than pleasant thoughts away, her face lit back up.

She finally made it!

Everything is going to be different now, she thought to herself as the chatter of her soon to be fellow students started to drown out the sound of the engine as it moved the wheels forward.

Hopefully toward someplace that could finally feel like home.

* * *

* * *

 

“Cassandra Lewis” the older witch’s voice called her name.

Unaccustomed to this much attention, her body tensed as she felt everyone’s eyes on her. They were following as she made her way up the steps toward the sorting hat. Feeling suddenly self-conscious about wearing her hand-me-down robes. The only thing moving her feet forward was the knowledge that this was an important step for every young witch and wizard. One that would forever seal how people viewed her as a person.

Cassandras only wish was not to be placed in Slytherin.

Her knowledge of the magical world has been limited to whatever she could find of her father’s old text books. So, her knowledge of Hogwarts was even more limited but she had overheard another first-year red-haired wizard talking about the Slytherin house like they were the plague of the wizarding world.

When she took her seat on the wooden stool, the older witch gave a small reassuring smile before placing the worn leather hat on her head.

She knew it was coming but she still jumped as the boisterous voice rang out inside her mind.

“Let’s see…a fair and sharp mind with an eagerness to learn, brave as well… determined to prove yourself but _only_ to yourself. A tendency to stray away from the limelight. Hummm…. I’d say you would do nicely in…HUFFLEPUFF!”

The table at the far left of the room lets out a cheer that chases any of her residual nerves away. The welcoming faces of her new house mates already easing any fear she felt about coming to this strange new world.

* * *

* * *

 

“How did I end up here?” her whispered voice seems to bounce off the dark walls.

But she knew how she ended up here. Those darn moving stairs were at fault. It had to be the most asinine thing about this school. One minute she was headed to the Hufflepuff common room from the library then somehow, she ends up here.

Wherever _here_ is.

Nothing looked familiar not that that fact was all too concerning. Hogwarts was an immense school with many secrets, one she could explore her entire 7 years here and still not see everything, but something about her current location was unsettling. Despite the aged rock that made up most of Hogwarts it always seemed welcoming, with its bright colors and paintings littering the halls.

Not here.

The constant drip of something the only noise Cassandra can hear aside from her own breathing. Lack of light casting an almost green haze over everything as the few lit candles wage a seemingly losing battle against the darkness.

Eager to ask for directions, she had hoped to run into someone else by now but the halls were empty. Everyone was probably eating in the Great Hall and she was missing dinner. As if on demand her stomach lets out a low rumble voicing its own anger at her actions.

_You’ve been stuck in the library all weekend; barely made any friends. All because you wanted to read some books so you could be more prepared for classes? The official first day of school isn’t until tomorrow so it’s not like you are any further behind than the others. Why do you do things like this? The whole point of having the two days before school starts is so you can get settled in and find friends. Not like you’d find any really._

Her inner dialog was becoming too self-deprecating for her liking.  Deciding to turn back around and give the moving staircases another shot she yelps as she collides with an unmoving object.

“Is the little Hufflepuff lost?” the voice calm yet menacing at the same time.

Taking a step back she manages to look up into the face of an older student. Under normal circumstances she would have been happy to have company in this eerie place but something about his eyes made the urge to run overwhelming. The small smirk wasn’t exactly making her feel warm and fuzzy either but Cassandra forced herself to talk.

“Ex-excuse me. I was trying to make my way back to the Hufflepuff common room and I got turned around. Can you point me in the right direction?”

“Names Gavin. Gavin Declan” he takes a step closer to her until her back is against the jagged stone wall. “What might yours be?”

“Cassandra” her voice is no more than a squeak and his smirk morphs into a full-on smile.

Throwing politeness out the window Cassandra tires to step around him.

He blocks her path.

“What’s the matter? The dungeons not to your liking?” In a blur Gavin’s hands are braced on either side of her head. Trapping her with no more than a foot between their bodies.

His breath was sickening as it brushed over her temple. He was too close. Her bangs moving with his every exhale. Her eyes were glued to his chest and she couldn’t help but notice that his breathing and pulse were completely different from hers. She could almost hear her heart beating an erratic rhythm against her chest while his seemed calm.

“I---I think I should go now.”

“Of course, but I would really like to show you something I discovered in one of my father’s journals over the summer. Is that okay?” although said as a question Cassandra knew that she had no choice in the matter. “It’s a spell of his own invention. One that made him very popular among a certain group of people.  Father said that it was almost perfect. The only downside is that your screams can’t be heard.”

Her eyes noticed that he was pulling out his wand from his robes but before she could scream he was already casting the spell.

Freezing her in place.

* * *

* * *

 

Severus Snape was busy making sure that he had all of the needed ingredients set out for his first class of the year.

‘At least they are Ravenclaws’ the voice in his head doing a piss poor job of making him see the bright side of starting another year of teaching a bunch of ungrateful dunderheads.

A sound outside of his office door continued to sour his mood but he let it pass since it was likely someone from his own house. It seemed that only Slytherins ventured down to the dungeons in their free time.

Setting a glass of Wolfsbane on his desk he chose not to ignore the sound of something falling to the ground this time. Putting on his best sneer he rose from his chair and made his way to the door separating him from the hallway.

Forcefully pulling it open he stopped it from slamming against the stone wall, hoping for an element of surprise over whoever was unlucky enough to be in his way.

Instead he wasn’t sure what he was looking at a few paces down from where he stood. Books were scattered over the floor which explained the second noise he heard but why wasn’t anyone picking them up?

Only able to make out the back of a student’s robe at first, Snape opens his mouth to demand an answer but is shocked by what he sees next.

The back of the student moves slightly revealing the face of a young witch. The glistening of tears clear on her face as the boy’s hand starts to move up her leg taking the hem of her skirt with it.

Without remembering how his wand came to be in his hand Snape is already shouting, “Everte Statum”

Hitting its target his spell sends the boy flying backwards before being stopped by an unforgiving wall. In three strides Snape is standing in front of the witch whose eyes are unmoving then her body starts to fall forward. He catches her but notices that her body still holds the same rigid movements.

“What’s going on down here?” Filch appears shortly after his cat. It doesn’t take him long to take in the scene around him. One student unconscious on the floor and another frozen in his arms. “Professor?”

“Take that wizarding excrement to Dumbledore.” Snape hisses as he picks up the witch still in his arms “Then send for Poppy and Minerva immediately.”

Without wasting a second making sure Filch follows his orders Snape is carrying the girl into his office where he places her on the couch.

He has an idea of what curse she was hit with but still hopes that it is a simple immobulus charm. Of course, that hope dies when he notices the girls finger moving slightly. Such a small movement that it looks like nothing is happening unless you were looking for it.

“Try not to move. Try not to think.” He leaves her with these less than comforting words as he runs into his laboratory.

Gathering ingredients in a way virtually unseen by anyone Snape doesn’t slow down when he hears Minerva and Poppy enter the room.

Minerva is the first to find him in his lab measuring out the needed items to cure the poor child.

“Severus. What in heavens name is going on?”

“Declan cursed the girl and if it is what I presume, then we haven’t much time before it is too late.” Throwing a bit of asphodel root into the already boiling cauldron.

“What has befallen the child?”

“I’m sure you are aware of what Declan the elder was known for and what earned him a ticket to Azkaban?” A sharp intake of breath is the only response Minerva gives “I believe Junior is picking up where daddy left off. A curse that renders the victim seemingly immobile but in reality, her movements are slowed. It allows for the user to move her in anyway they’d like and still enjoy the fear in her eyes. A mere second to us is a minute to the girl.”

Without stopping his movements, he continues

“Currently her brain is firing commands but they are being slowed down by the curse. As the muggles say, a traffic jam, is happening inside her head. The longer she is under the curse the more commands build up so when I administer this potion all of those commands are going to be released at once causing something akin to a seizure to take place. There have been instances of brain hemorrhaging if they are without the cure for too long.”

“Right I’ll let you to it then and I will fill Poppy in on what is going on.” The hardened witch tries to keep her voice calm knowing that if anyone can pull of a miracle it is Severus.


End file.
